Refrigerating apparatus



May 7, 1940.

- c. E. LEwls anmmnaums APPARATUS Filed Feb. 10, 1938 BY W M95449 3Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

y 7, 1940- c. E. LEWIS 2,200,215

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 10, 1958 v 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I l-5'I39 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS M y 1940- c. E. LEWIS 2,200,215

' REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 10, 19:58 3 sheets-sheet s 2 a?lgVEIYTOR. BY mwh ATTORNEYS.

Patented May 7, 1940 PATENT- OFFICE BEFBIGERATING APPARATUS Carroll E.Dayton, hio,'anignor to General Motors Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, a cor-Dmtlon of Delaware Application February 10, 1933, Serial No. 139,832

6 Claims. (01. 62-134) I This invention relates to refrigeratingapparatus and more particularly to the method and apparatus for coolinga plurality of individual rooms, such as in a hotel. v a An object ofthe invention is to provide a system wherein cooled water may becirculated to the individual rooms. and wherein waste. water from therooms may be used to cool the corridors. Another object of thisinvention is to provide a 10 ductless air conditioning system for use inhotels,

oflice buildings and the like.

A further object of this invention is to provide I novel control meansfor the conditloningapparatus another object of this invention is toutilize'excess cooling capacity for precoolin'g the fresh air prior tocirculating the fresh air over the individual room cooler.

Further objects and advantages of the present 7 go invention will beapparent from the following description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, wherein a preferred form of the present inventionis clearly shown.

- In the drawings:

Fig. l is a diagrammatic sectional elevational view showing a buildingequipped with a conditioning system employing features of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentaryv sectional view showing I corridors l2 andabasement I3 is provided with an air conditioning system employing a'plurality of individual air conditioning units placed in the rooms andcorridors and generally designated by the reference characters It andii. These units are supplied with cold water, or any other suitablecooling medium from the supply tank It which for purposes ofillustration has been shown as located-in the basement. v Eachroom is.provided with one or more of the conditioning units it and each corridoris provided with one or more ofthe units II. The water in the storagetank: It is cooled by means of one or more refrigeratingunits it whichare controlled automatically inresponse to the .-.temperature of waterin the receptacle it placed in the water line leading to the individualconditioning units.

, l2 into a room ll.

Each refrigerating unit It is provided with a thermostat 2! in thereceptacle l3, and) this thermostat starts and stops the refrigeratingunit I! in the conventional manner. The thermostats 2| may be set tooperate atthe same 5 temperature or at different temperatures.

A pump 22 is provided for continuously circulating the water firstthrough the cooling coils 23 in parallel and then through the coils 24in parallel. The pump 22 is driven by means of a 10 motor 26 which maybe started or stopped by the manually controlled switch 2h Duringoperation of the system, however, the motor 26 which drives the pump 22will be in operation at all times, and the amount of water circulatedwill be con- 15 stant since no means are provided in this modificationfor varying the amount of cooling water flowing through the individualcooling coils. With this arrangement the water lines have a constantrestriction irrespective of the number 20 of individual cooling units inoperation. Water -is supplied to the cooling coils 23 through the riserpipes 23 and 28' which supply water to'all of the coils 23 in parallel.The water leaving the coils 23 leaves via one or the other of the pipes23 and 23' which lead to the upper part of the building, from whence itflows through the pipe parallel, water of substantially the sametempera- 3o ture is supplied to each of these coils. The coils 23 areplaced in the fresh air inlets 30 through which fresh air is introducedinto the corridors by means of fans 32 which are in operation at alltimes; 35

Each individual room cooling unit is'placed adjacent an opening 33leading from a corridor As best shown in Fig. 2, a damper arrangement 34is provided in cache!- the openings 33. The dampers 34 are preferablyleft uncontrolled, but may be either manually or automaticallycontrolled in response to 'either dry bulb temperature, wet bulbtemperature, or a combination of both. A fan 35 is usedfor circulatingair through the conditioning unit it. The air flowing through the unitIt may be-corridor air coming through the passage 33, or it may berecirculated room all 'coming' through the passage 33, or it may be amixture of both. The

. passage 33 is provided with a damper 3l.which'is preferably left openat. all times'but' which may be either manually controlledorautomatically I controlled byza dry bulb' thermostat. a wet bulbthermostat,'or by" a combination o'i'both; 1

In order to control theamount of coolingtak-v 55 30 room M to theoutdoor atmosphere.

could be used to discharge the air directly from V V i 2,200,215 I ingplace in each individual room, a thermostat 38 is provided in each roomfor controlling the positioning of dampers 39 and 49. These dampers areconnected by link 42 so as to operate simmtaneously. A conventional typeof damper operating motor 43 is provided which moves the dampers intothe full-line position when the temperature within the room is below apredetermined point and moves the dampers to the dotted-line positionwhenever the temperature is high enough to require added cooling. In thedotted-line position of the dampers 39 and 56, all of the air is causedto circulate over the cooling coil 23; whereas, in the full-lineposition, all

of the air is lay-passed around the cooling coil with the result thatverylittle, if any, cooling takes place.

The fan 35 is intended to be operated at all times so as to maintain aconstant air velocity 25 In hotel installations and similarinstallations where an extra room 64 such as a toilet cloakroom, or thelike is provided in connection with the room to be conditioned, anexhaust fan d5 is provided which exhausts air from the extra The fan t5the main room, if desired. With the arrangement of pipes, as shown inFig. 1, preference is given to the cooling of the individual rooms, and

- only waste water is used in cooling the corridors.

In a modification shown in Fig.3, the water in the cold water storagetank H6 is cooled by one or more refrigerating units H8 which arestarted and stopped in response to temperature of the water at 22L Thearrangement may be suchthat, normally, only one refrigerating unit 8 isin operation, and the second unit comes into operation only when thecooling water exceeds a predetermined high temperature. In the ,5arrangement shown in Fig. 3 the temperature of the individual rooms IIIis controlled by means of a thermostat I38 which, in place of operatingy-pass dampers, operates a solenoid valve I39 which controls the flowofcooling 50 water into the cooling coils I23. A pressure responsiverelief valve I46 is provided between the cold water supply line and thereturn line so as to compensate. for changes in the number of solenoidvalves which are open. In this in- 55 stallation, as in the installationshown in Fig.

1, the cooling water first flows throushthe room cooling coils I28 inparallel and is then conveyed by means of pipes I28 .to the return .lineIII which supplies cooling water to the corrieo dor cooling coils. I24which are likewise arranged in'parallel. In order toregulate thetemperature in the corridors, thermostats I30 are provided which controlsolenoid valves Ill placed in the individual lines leading to thecoolingcoils placed in an opening in an outside wall of either the roomill or some other room such as room Md adjoining room. III.

As shown in Fig. 4 the water circulating pump motor I28 is energizedbythe relay switch I50 5 whenever one of the control thermostats closesthe circuit to one of the solenoid valves. The circuits for energiizngthe motors I52 which oper-- ate the compressorsare energized bythermostats 22I which are responsive to the temperature of 10 waterreturning from the cooling coils. While I have disclosed an airconditioning system in which the air is cooled by means of. cold wateror the like flowing through coils in the path of air being circulated,certain fea- 15 tures of the invention could equally well be used inasystem in which volatile refrigerant evaporators could be used in lieuof the water cooled coils. In installations-where refrigerantevaporators are substituted for the water coils the 0 refrigerant couldbe supplied to all of the indi-- vidual e'vaporators from a singlerefrigerant li'quefying unit located in the basement, for example; or anumber of independent refrigerating systems could be used. The freshair. 25 would be introduced into the corridors in a manner disclosedhereinabove, and air from the corridors would be supplied to theindividual rooms the same as in the installations described hereinabove-30 While the form. of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed,constitutes apreferred .form, it is to be understood that other formsexchange with air for said corridor, and thereafter introducing air fromsaid corridor into said room. i

2. Air conditioning apparatus comprising a cold water sump, anevaporator in thermal ex change relationship with said sump, refrigerantliquefying means for supplying refrigerant to said evaporator, a.plurality of cooling coils, means for circulating water from said coldwater sump to said cooling coils, means whereby said water flows throughone group of said coils in parallel, and means whereby at least aportion of the water returning from said one group flows through anothercoil prior to its return to said 55 sump. I 3. Airv conditioningapparatus for a plurality 01' rooms comprising means ilor circulatingfresh air into a first of said rooms, first means for cooling said freshair, a second cooling means in a. second room, means for circulating airfrom said second room over said second cooling means,

- and means for circulating a cooling fluid first through said secondcooling means and thereafter through-said first cooling means.

I zone in a second room; introducing fresh air into said second room,circulating said fresh air through said second cooling zone andthereafter" introducing said oooled i'resh air into said first room.

s. The method or conditioning m for a bumu I 'said corridor, introducingfresh air into the corridor over the cooling coilfor the corridor andintroducing corridor air into said room, and further cooling thecorridor air when conditions in the room require.

6. In combination with a building having a corridor and a plurality oirooms, a first cooling coil, means for circulating outside air over saidcoil and into the corridor, an opening between said corridor and one ofsaid rooms, an air conditioner in said room adjacent said opening, a

second cooling coil in said conditioner, means for 5 circulating acooling medium through said coils in series, means for circulating airfrom said corridor through said conditioner, and means for by-passing aportion of said air around one of said cooling coils. 1

CARROLL E. LEWIS.

